Water, Acequias and Wells on Albuquerque-Area Property

Why this is the valley's defining question

In the North Valley, Los Ranchos and Corrales, what makes land valuable is frequently that it is irrigated. Irrigation is not a feature of the soil; it is an arrangement, delivered through a historic acequia network and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District's infrastructure, and it comes with access, assessments and obligations. A pasture that is green because it is irrigated and a pasture that is green because it rained recently are different assets at the same asking price.

What to establish about irrigation

Whether the property has irrigation access and on what terms; what assessments attach and who has been paying them; where any ditch easements run across the parcel and who has the right to be on them; what maintenance obligations come with membership; and what the delivery arrangement actually is in practice. These are answerable questions, and the answers should be in writing before the contingency period closes.

Wells, outside the ditch network

In Placitas, parts of the East Mountains and unincorporated county land, water means a well, a community system, or a mutual domestic water association. For a well: records, depth, yield, age of equipment, and any shared-use agreement with neighbours. For a community system or association: its rules, its condition and its financial position. This is the variable most capable of ruling a property in or out on its own, which is why it belongs at the front of diligence rather than the end.

Septic travels with all of this

Where there is no sewer connection there is a septic system, and it deserves its own inspection rather than a line in the house report. Age, capacity relative to the house's bedroom count, permit history, last service and the condition of the drainfield are the items. Replacement is a real number, and knowing it during diligence is what allows it to be negotiated.

Getting the right people involved

Irrigation and water-rights questions frequently benefit from a specialist rather than a generalist — someone who works with MRGCD arrangements routinely, or a well contractor who knows the local aquifer. Engaging them early is cheap. Discovering after closing that the irrigation you were counting on does not attach to the parcel is not.

Common questions